Navigation

Whitepapers

Learn how network devices rely on steady, even power and how you can protect it.

Power Management

From the MPDU through to the cabinet PDU’s, Black Box can provide full power profiling solutions enabling the Data Centre Managers to fully understand where and when power is being used and to accurately bill customers accordingly. Providing real statistics for KVA and KW of used power is essential to work out PUE and DCIE figures accurately. Devices that are unused at certain times, can be switched on and off automatically, saving power and cost directly.

From simple metered PDU’s providing readouts of instant KVA and KWatt draw, through to intelligent power profiling PDU’s with remote switching for power cycling servers - whatever information required by the Data Centre Manager, can be provided.

As servers are replaced by blade servers, and as single application servers are replaced by virtualisation, the need for extensive and flexible power options becomes paramount.

A few years ago a single server could draw around 2Amps, whereas a modern blade server running in a virtualised environment can draw 16Amps or more, increasing the KVA required per cabinet.

Providing simple access to power, the unmanaged PDU needs to provide reliable connectivity to power for all user equipment. From simple horizontal PDU's with 4 ports, through to 24 port vertically mounted PDU's, we have the range to cover all your data centre needs. Support for 16Amp and 32Amp Commando plus (2P + E), or C20 16Amp plug, all our PDU's feature built in earth studs, mounting kits and built of a mild steel construction.

Controllable PDU's allow data centre staff / customers to remotely reboot equipment that appears to have hung or become looped in some way. Each device or appliance plugs into one, two or three PDU's (depending upon the number of power supplies). These PDU's can then be controlled over serial, or RS-485 to bring power down and then re-apply it to particular ports associated with that server or appliance, effectively rebooting the machine. They can be linked into ServSwitch matrix switches to provide a complete access solution to all devices.

Often controllable PDU's can also provide power monitoring either through an LCD display or through included software. They dont provide power profiling.

Designed to improve capacity planning and power profiling, our Intelligent PDU's can be accessed via IP or serial, and provide extensive features to really monitor and control power throughout the entire data centre real estate. Information on voltage, current drawn etc is provided in real time via the web interface. Access to the PDU can be integrated into existing LDAP/S, RADIUS, and Active Directory environments, and they support 256-bit AES encryption, and strong passwords for security.

Most data centers require power source redundancy to ensure that their mission-critical network devices are always running. Newer devices usually include a secondary power outlet. But redundancy is also important for legacy devices with just one power input. The Fallback Power Switch is designed to provide a reliable and safe power fallback for these single-corded legacy devices. The switch includes dual AC power inlets for connections to both primary and secondary power source. If the primary source fails or is unavailable, the switch seamlessly connects from the primary to the secondary power source of the corresponding device. When the primary source is restored, the switch connects back to it.